Football
Entering the Week 16 matchup against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field, much of the talk centered on the seemingly clear advantage the Lions were going to have in the ground game, thanks to standout running backs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery.
The Lions are built around running the football and taking on a Pittsburgh Steelers defense that has struggled to stop the run at times this season, it seemed like a matchup Detroit could exploit.
The Lions did anything but that as the Steelers completely shut down their run game. Pittsburgh allowed just 15 yards on 12 carries and made the Lions one-dimensional for much of the game in a 29-24 win that came down to a wild final play.
For former NFL linebacker and current NFL Network analyst Manti Te’o, the Steelers stifling the Lions’ run game sent a message to the rest of the league.
“The identity of the Pittsburgh Steelers has always been their defense, and I think the thing that has been asked a question in this year has been their rush defense. But last night, they held the Lions to 15 total yards. This is the same defense in week one, gave up 182 rush yards to the Jets a few weeks later, gave up 142 to the Bengals,” Te’o said Monday on Good Morning Football, according to video via NFL Network. “But this is a team last night that came in here and held Gibbs to seven carries, a career low, and two rush yards, a career low. When you’re trying to solidify an identity, when you’re trying to make sure that you send a message to all 31 teams, this is the way you do it. You run the ball.
“And when people try to run the ball against you, not just people, the Detroit Lions, whose identity is to run the football with Gibbs and Montgomery, and you hold them to 15 total yards? That is sending a statement to the other 31 teams and that’s the type of statement you wanna send heading into the playoffs.”
Coming into the matchup against the Steelers, the Lions were having success running the football, especially after their bye week in Week 8. Since the bye, the Lions had rushed for 226 yards against the Washington Commanders, 237 yards against the New York Giants, and 109 against the Dallas Cowboys.
But against the Steelers, there was no running room to be found. The Steelers, even without T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig along the defensive front, put the clamps on Detroit’s run game. That it happened with the return of rookie Derrick Harmon to the lineup doesn’t feel like much of a coincidence at this point. He’s an impact run defender.
With the Steelers shutting down Detroit’s run game, it put a huge onus on quarterback Jared Goff to stand in against the pass rush behind a banged-up offensive line. Though he made plays late, the Steelers really had him rattled throughout the game.
Now, the Steelers look like a real challenge for teams moving forward, especially if they can play like they did in Detroit. Stopping the run is the start of it all for the defense. When you stop the run, you have to be able to run the ball offensively, too, and the Steelers did that, gashing Detroit for 230 yards.
It was a statement win and should have the rest of the AFC taking notice.
Read More Josh Carney